Kirill Serebrennikov

Кирилл Серебренников

Director

Biography

Russian stage and film director, screenwriter, theatre figure, and television presenter.

Was born on September 7, 1969, in Rostov-on-Don. He studied physics at the local State University while simultaneously working in theatre and television.

His first major theatrical success was the production of Vasily Sigarev's play "Plasticine," staged in 2001 in Moscow at the Kazantsev and Roshchin Playwright and Director Center.

In 2008, upon the invitation of Oleg Tabakov, Artistic Director of the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre, Serebrennikov assembled an experimental acting and directing course at the Moscow Art Theatre School. After graduation, the cohort did not disperse to different theatres but instead first became the "Seventh Studio," and later formed the foundation of the "Gogol Center." This theatre was established on the basis of the disbanded Moscow Drama Theatre named after Nikolai Gogol and was headed by Serebrennikov from 2012 to 2021.

His filmography includes:
  • "Playing the Victim" (2006) – Grand Prix at the Kinotavr Festival and the First Rome International Film Festival; Grand Prix at the "Dark Nights" Festival in Tallinn.
  • "The Day of St. Yury" (2008) – Grand Prix at the Warsaw International Film Festival and several awards at the Locarno International Film Festival.
  • "Betrayal" (2012) – Official selection at the Venice Film Festival.
  • "The Student" (2016) – François Chalais Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
  • "Leto" (Summer) (2019) – Nika Award (Russia's national film award) for Best Director.
  • Films nominated for the Cannes Palme d'Or: "Petrov's Flu" (2020), "Tchaikovsky's Wife" (2022), and "Limonov. The Ballad" (2024).

Kirill Serebrennikov is also known as a director of operas and ballets. His directorial method is characterized by a rejection of canonical interpretations in favor of conceptual solutions. His work is known for synthesizing various artistic languages, including contemporary dance and video art. At the same time, his productions ("Parsifal," "Don Carlos," "A Hero of Our Time") lack a single, easily recognizable style; each represents an independent and holistic artistic statement, embodied in an original, though often unconventional for the genre, form.

He is a laureate of numerous awards, including TEFI, Kinotavr, the Golden Mask, and the Nika Award. He was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honour (France, 2025) and a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (France, August 2, 2018, by decree of the French Minister of Culture, Françoise Nyssen).